Multiple-feed circular spring-needle knitting-machine



A. A. ROY AND P, J. LANDRY.

MULTIPLE FEED CIRCULAR SPRING NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.20, I919.

1,390, l 64., PatentedSept. 6, 1921.

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A. A. ROY AND P. J LANDRY. MULTIPLE FEED CIRCULAR SPRING NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED DEC. 20, 1919. 1,390,164

Patented Sept. 6,1921.

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r", al rim ALFRED A. BOY, 0F LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, AND"PETER J. LANDRY, 01 PELHALM,

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NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MULTIPLE-FEED GIRCULARSPRING-NEEDLE KNITTING-MACHINE.

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Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented dept. 6, 1921.

Application filed December 20, 1919. Serial No. 346,297.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED A. ROY and PETER J. LANDRY, both citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and at Pelham, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Multiple-Feed Circular Spring-Needle Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to multiple feed circular spring-needle knitting-machines, and is a press-ofi preventer.

In machines of the character referred to a single head or cylinder of needles is used with, from four to seven feeds, each of which is driven by the rotation of said cylinder and normally feeds or delivers a yarn to the cylinder and with the cylinder knits a course of the fabric so that a single revolution of the cylinder knits as many courses as there are feeds, and so that in one sense the machine may be considered a plurality of machines, each consisting of a feed with a needle cylinder common to all of them. Now, if the yarn of any feed fails, that feed will continue to be driven by the needle cylinder, the beards of the needles passing said feed will be closed, but there beingno yarn under said beards the loops on the needles will be carried over the tops of the needles and the fabriawillbe entirely disconnected from the needles at that feed and at all the subsequent feeds, constituting what is known as a press off, the piece of fabric already knitted being then generally waste or seconds,-the cost of replacing the fabric properly .upon the needles being prohibitive.

The object of this invention is to throw out of action the beard-closing means of any feed upon the failure of the yarn operated upon by that particular feed, by failure, meaning the breakage or exhaustion of such yarn,

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1, is a plan of a part of the head or needlecylinder of a circular spring-needle knit-' ting-machine and one feed and our invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2, a side elevation of part of the head with needles, a needleclamp and the presserrelease, its operating lever, and stand, and the presser;

Fig. 3, a plan of the cover of the supporting parts of the presser-release and presser;

Fig. 4:, a perspective view of the body of the case; r a f1,

Fig. 5, a side elevation of the presser-release and connected parts;

, Fig. 6, a plan of the same and of the presserr Fig. 7, a right side elevation oflthe yarnguide and yarn-controlled lover.

The head A orvneedle-cylinder, Figs. 1, 2, spring-needles at, their beards a clamps a clearing wheel B, stitch-wheel or loop-wheel C; dividing wheel D, landing-wheel E, finishing-wheel F,these are all of any usual construction and operation ;-the cylinder being rotated around its vertical axis by well-known means (not shown), and carrying the needles and rotating the above specified wheels by engagement with the needles in the usual manner. r a

The yarn Y is drawn from a bobbin or cone (not shown) and is directed to the insaid case H and being held from movement by a set-screw M. A cover H (Fig. 3) is provided for inclosing the body portion of the case.- The head of the presser G is adjustably held on the shank 9 thereof by the set-screwg and is forced toward the beards of the needles by a spring, represented as a spiral wire spring 9 surrounding said shank g and compressed between an enlargement g of said shank g? and a sleeve 9 on said shank, said sleeve being adjustable on said shank by a nut g and check-nut g turning on the threaded portion of said shank, to vary the pressure ofsaid presserr upon the beards o The sleeve 9 is provided with a notch g which receives one end of the locking-bar J,

7 ternately A yarn-controlled lever K (Figs. 1 and 7), is represented as pivoted at k on a support which may be an outward extension L of the yarn-guide c and this extension L is provided with downwardly extending spaced pins Z and said lever K is provided with similar spaced pins 70 parallel with said pins land so arranged that the pins on the lever normally enter the spaces between the pins on its support. V

The yarn Y passed down through the yarn-guide extension L and then is bent alby the pins on'the extension L and on the lever K into a Zigzag course as shown in Fig. 1, preventing the inner end of the lever from moving to the right or outward.

When the bobbin or cone is exhausted of yarn or when the yarn breaks or slackens to such an extent as to allow the lever to swing outward into the position indicated bydotted lines in Fig. l, the outer end of said leverK becomes disengaged from the end (the right end in Fig.1) of the link M, which link is connected to the outer end of the release-operating lever N, pivoted at a on the bottom of the case to swing in a horizontal plane,and theouter end of said lever N is then swung outward by a spring 41 represented as a U-shaped spring, one end of which is connected to the outer arm of said lever N and the other end of which en-' ages the bottom of the case H. The other end of the release-operating lever N is provided with notches a which engage pins or teeth 0 which project-down from the under side of the segmental releasing wheel O,Vwhich turns on a vertical axis 0 and rotates said wheel 0 until its curved surface o of larger diameter comes against the needles below the beards of the needles by contact with'which said wheel is further rotated, bringing another projection or pin 0 from the top of said wheel against the in-' ner arm 29 of the lever P pivoted at p in the case H and causing the outer arm 39 of said lever which projects through or is otherwise connected to the outer end of the locking bar to-draw said locking-bar J out of the notch g in the sleeve 9 allowing the presser to be moved away from the beards of the needles by the spring Q, secured to the case H at and pressing stud g which projects from the sleeve 9 Afterf the presser is thusmoved away from the needles the knitting-wheel A, B, G; D, E, of the particular feed to which the presser belongs will continue to revolve but withoutaffecting the fabric, and the other reeds with the cylinder will continue to knit, so that the only harm done by the breaking of the yarn will be a loss of production.

The edge of the releasing-wheel 0 should be adapted to engage the shank of the needle and this may be accomplished by providing it with a tire 0* of rubber, leather or. similar yielding material;

\Ve'claim as'our invention: v j

1. In a: circular knitting machine, in combination, a plurality of needles, a presser, means to hold sald presser 1n positlon to close. said needles successively, yarn controlled means effective to withdraw said presserto inoperative position, and controlling mechanism for said latter means, said mechanism comprising a latch to hold said presser in operative position, a cam wheel rotatable by engagement with a continuously moving part of the machine, connections from said'cam wheel to'said latch, and yarn controlled means for advancing said cam wheel to engaging position.

2. In a circular knitting machine, in combination, a plurality of needles, a p'resser, means to hold said presser in position to close said needles successively, yarn controlled means effective to withdraw said presser to inoperative p,osition,"and controlling'mechanism for said latter means, said mechanism comprising a-latch to hold said presser in operative position, a cam wheel, connections from said cam wheel to said latch, yarn controlled means to partially rotate said cam wheel upon yarn failure, and mechanical means to further rotate said wheel to release said presser.

ALFRED A. BOY, PETER J. LANDRY.

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